BadBadNotGood are, quite frankly, a group of young white guys who perform covers of hip-hop instrumentals in the style of a hip Jazz-Fusion group. Think of it as the closest thing to if The Roots were covering your favorite instrumentals.

Their covers are decidedly smooth and perfect for warm nights and rainy afternoons where you want to relax to some “Brooklyn Zoo” but don’t care at the moment for ODB yelling at you about craziness.

It’s all very chill and all highly accessible. These guys know their stuff. From Nas and ODB to Odd Future and MF DOOM to even a suite of nerdy homages to The Legend Of Zelda, this group of instrumentalists come off as earnest as can be and the genuine article of people who are legit fans seeking to simply add their spin to the musical conversation of these tried and true tracks.

For the second year in a row, Sargent House and Rodriguez Lopez Productions have a free sampler of their roster’s music. This is a perfect opportunity to check out new tunes from some very exciting bands. Sargent House is home to musicians like Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta and At The Drive-In, so you can expect to hear loud and experimental music all around. Artists like Hella, Le Butcherettes, Zechs Marquise, and Boris are relatively unknown, but this free release might gain them some more fans.

Need some good background music for that Halloween party? Sick of using boring, old ambient boos and screams? Electronic duo Virtual Boy have you covered.

Their new, free remix of their track “Doom,” inspired by the classic first person shooter game, is the perfect mix of electronic beats, haunted ambiance, and unsettling noises; done-up just subtly enough that it’s fun-not-frightening.

The Watchmakers latest release, The Misanthrope, is a cordial piece of pop-rock as scatterbrained as it is instrumentally- catchy. This isn’t a bad thing, necessarily.

The very first track, “Re: Split My Side,” front-loads the entire affair with the albums best track. It’s a catchy, sharp song with hooks to spare and every member on-point and tight. The album remains tight up to about the halfway mark when you can feel the band loosening up. For some bands this could be a good thing; but in this instance them getting loose means they start getting a bit sloppy.

Instrumentation is still tight, but you get the feeling that this would have made a better EP than a full-album. The whole middle of the album feels like filler between an excellent front and book-end.

A few weeks ago I featured The Dualies’ recent EP, Handclaps And Zaps, on an episode of the podcast and it’s no wonder why I wanted to give them every little bit of exposure I could. This EP is a slice of synthpop levity sent to give you a casual respite from what you’re probably used to listening to on your lunchbreak.

These three songs hearken back to the height of mid-90s synthpop. A niche reference to be sure, but one that has it’s place and shines with a luster better than most for those in the mood for it.

The sound of dusty synth and breathy vocals do blend each song together well. While this would be terribly repetitive on a full LP, the fact that it’s only three tracks serves this set well as it is wonderfully charming; it hits fast, gives you something fresh, then leaves you wanting more.

Ghost Bunny have been kicking around the NYC rock scene for a while now under various monikers from Dead Rabbit, then to The Rabbits, and now they’ve finally settled on Ghost Bunny just in time for their latest album to hit the presses.

Finally up as a free download on Bandcamp, their self-titled debut is filled with the kind of sharp hooks and melodic vocals one may or may not have expected from a band named after a deceased rabbit.

“Out Of Our Heads” is an immediate standout with it’s clap-a-long beat and infectious guitar-work just begging to become a hit somewhere. “Japanese” showcases well the band’s surf-rock influences and “All Mutants” rages into a fury of a climax with frantic guitars worthy of indeed soundtracking a mutant attack.

Ghost Bunny have come a long way to get to this point and with another album coming, hopefully, sooner rather than later, you’d be wise to keep your eyes (and ears) on them in the coming months.